“It is kind of unusual to have dogs attack other dogs, so to have two dogs attack other dogs within two weeks — hopefully, that is it for a while,” Koehn said.
Around 9:30 a.m. June 4 on Tulane Street north of Nine Mile Road, a woman’s Miniature Pinscher / Chihuahua mix was mauled to death by a pit bull that jumped through a neighboring window screen, into the backyard, and shook the dog until it died.
“While this was happening, the homeowner, along with a couple neighbors, tried to hit the dog with a stick to attempt to get the dog to drop the puppy,” Koehn said.
The woman told police that day that she was in her fenced-in yard with three of her dogs, including the Miniature Pinscher / Chihuahua mix, and a small child when the pit bull jumped out of the first-floor window screen and hopped the fence into her yard. The woman’s name was not released to the media, and she declined to speak to the Press.
When police responded, the pit bull was still in the fenced-in area with the other dog in its mouth when a police officer shot and killed it for fear of another attack, Koehn said.
“Because of the violent attack … a decision was made by the officer to fire one round, and that one round killed the pit bull,” he said.
Animal control later took both dogs away.
The pit bull’s owner, also not identified, told police that the dog did not have a history of being violent, which neighbors also confirmed.
The owner said the pit bull happened to be partially blind, and that was believed to be affecting the dog’s behavior.
No charges have been filed. Koehn said that according to the city charter, dog owners have to be able to contain their dog, but this case was a bit out of the ordinary.
“You need to confine your dog, but having your dog jump through a screen that is closed, it sounded like she (the owner) did quite a bit to confine the dog, and something she did not anticipate (was) the dog jumping through the screen (of the) first-story window,” Koehn said. “The main thing is, don’t put human life in jeopardy to protect a dog. It is tragic that a dog died, but even worse if a human were killed. You just never know; each case is different.”
A May 22 incident involved a woman walking her employer’s two dogs to the Hunters Ridge Apartments & Townhomes complex, off of Orchard Lake Road, when both dogs became loose from her and attacked a Chihuahua being walked by another resident. The dog was killed by one of the two dogs, a German shepherd. The other dog was a chocolate Lab.
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| RIP Oscar |
The owner of the two dogs was issued two violations for failure to confine his dogs, after the second dog owner requested to prosecute.
Some animal-related civil infractions incur a $150 fine, according to 47th District Court.
(C&G Newspapers - June 16, 2015)
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